When A Good Walk Turns Bad
by MissDoctorDonna
Summary: Our favourite seven wizards take a walk through the woods... What could go wrong?


"Vin, what is that!"

Jerking around and lifting his hands automatically to run through his hair, when he saw where Nathan was pointing, Vin yelped, "What's what?"

The seven wizards had decided to make the most of a beautiful sun drenched day to go hiking through the woods around Ezra's house, when they'd stumbled on and disturbed a nest of fairies. A combination of fear, as a few of the older fairies had lost wings when an unkind witch harvesting them for a spell, and annoyance, as JD had managed to foul the clear water puddle they'd been preening around, sent them swarming around the unlucky wizards. Even though most of the seven had known that they wouldn't be harmed by the fey folk, all were nonetheless startled by the sudden glittering, fluttering mass flying straight at them and had jumped back.

JD had stumbled back into the over protective Buck who had pulled him out of the way, knocking the larger man into Josiah, who'd staggered and stepped heavily on Nathan's foot making the medic bellow and push his older friend into Chris, who'd had one hand reached for his wand whilst the other reached out and protectively grabbed Vin, who'd also been trying to withdraw his wand with his right hand whilst the left latched onto Ezra, who'd been trying to help the injured Nathan stay upright and therefore had had both hands occupied holding up the much taller, heavier and struggling wizard. When Nathan hopped awkwardly and fell into Ezra's solid chest, he'd forced the southern wizard back a couple of steps into Vin. A domino effect came into play when Chris had then overbalanced as his solid hold on Vin pushed him off centre and he'd stepped back, only to have his foot hit nothing but the air by the side of the trail. A tumbling, cursing, flailing ball of fourteen arms, fourteen legs, and seven bodies went rolling down the side of the gully, ending in a sodden heap after they'd splashed down in a small stream.

The high pitched scolding of the fairies sounded faintly from above as they'd just lain in the shallow water and tried to get their breath back. Slowly, and mainly due to the pained, wheezed prompting of Josiah who'd ended up on the bottom of the pile, they'd hauled themselves and each other to their feet and started to assess the damage.

At Nathan's horrified query, the others all turned to peer into the birds nest that Vin's long hair currently resembled, distracted from their examination of each other's various scrapes, sprains and bruises. Staring at the bedraggled Texan, who was prevented from combing his fingers through his tangled mass of hair when he kept encountering leaves, twigs, and muddy knots, they too spotted what had concerned the medic.

Ezra stepped forward; reaching into Vin's hair to retrieve what he believed was the object of Nathan's concern. Chuckling, breathlessly due to a solid blow to his ribs from someone's knee, he announced, "That, Nathan, is a bowtruckle; a young one by the looks, who's not doing too well judging by the ridges along its sides. Must have been trying to sneak up on the fairy nest to try and steal some eggs."

The other six wizards all stared at the squirming stick-like creature crying piteously as it tried to loosen the southern wizard's hold and escape. They were startled from their contemplation by Vin's sudden move to a nearby fallen log. Kicking at it a couple of time, Vin broke the rotten wood open and then scooped up handful of the pulp, bringing it back to where Ezra stood. Opening his fist, he revealed a feast. Well, a feast in the eyes of a bowtruckle.

"Now then, young sir, calm yourself and look at what my friend has brought for you," crooned Ezra, stroking the tiny creature gently before turning it to view the handful of wood lice crawling in Vin's palm. Squeaking in excitement, the critter crawled from Ezra's hand to Vin's and started shovelling the insects into its mouth voraciously.

Nathan and JD, both from large cities, viewed the display with a mixture of revulsion and curiosity. Chris, who'd spent his boyhood roaming the wilds of Indiana, and Josiah, who'd been all over and seen just about everything, just looked on as they fondly recalled incidents with various critters from their past. Buck was busy watching the kid and coming up with ways to tease him. JD was keeping his distance from the bowtruckle and seemed to be squinting his eyes from behind the sunglasses he'd just hurriedly donned.

"Kid, what the hell are ya doing?"

Not taking his narrowed eyes off the dangerous creature in Vin's hand, JD muttered, "I've read about bowtruckles. They're dangerous if you damage their homes and can claw your eyes out. I'd say we just about obliterated his home when we fell, so I ain't taking any chances."

Laughter followed this statement. The older and more experienced members of the team often forgot how naive JD was, given his intelligence and technical knowledge.

"Son, this poor unfortunate doesn't look like he has a home and hasn't had one in a while. If he was part of a branch, the others would never have let him get into this sorry state. Bowtruckles tease and fight each other, but they'd never let any family member starve or wander off when they're so young. No, I'd say that this little fella was stolen and somehow got loose. Not sure how. There aren't that many of them in America, only a few that were imported from Germany, Scandinavia, or England and they had to be registered with the Ministry due to their natural ability at picking locks. Made them very popular with the criminal element," advised Josiah, his aches forgotten in his fascination with the arrival of the illicit creature. Looking thoughtfully at Ezra, he wondered if the wealthy wizard had a branch of the small and talented lock picks secreted away on his land somewhere.

The bowtruckle had eaten its fill and was contemplating the last woodlouse in its hand, as though undecided whether it could fit it in. Finally, throwing the insect into its mouth, the creature chewed, swallowed, and gave the bowtruckle equivalent of a satisfied belch. Having a brief rummage through what was left of the wood mulch in Vin's palm, he decided there was nothing left to eat and looked up at the blue-eyed wizard solemnly. Deciding there was nothing to fear from the moving tree he was perched on, the bowtruckle warily scanned the rest of the strange trees around him. He'd never seen anything like them in his brief life, and found them both terrifying and fascinating. This one had provided him with a very tasty meal though, so perhaps it would be alright to relax a little.

"How do you know it's a boy bowtruckle, Ez? And how'd you know it was starving? And why do you think it's on its own? And..."

"Breathe JD," cautioned Ezra absently, as he watched the bowtruckle yawn mightily then slowly crawl up Vin's sleeve and back into the tangled mess of his hair. Once there it started creating a nest for itself. Chuckling, Ezra reached up to pluck the creature from Vin's hair again and then offered the once more squeaking creature the sanctuary of the dark, warm, inner pocket of his jacket. Finding this a satisfactory alternative, the critter jumped in and dozed off. "Nobody really knows what sex bowtruckles are - with the exception of other bowtruckles - so I'm just calling it a he as it seems more pleasant than it. You can tell when they're in poor health as their colour diminishes and they develop ridges along their sides like cacti that are in need of water. I suspect he's alone because, as Josiah previously mentioned, he's on his own which is most unusual for the species. They tend to gather in groups within a tree that bears wand quality wood. There are no trees like that in the immediate vicinity, so I would guess that he was snatched by a nest building bird and managed to free himself from its talons nearby, falling into the foliage. Possibly, he fell into the river and floated down and through my property. But he certainly should still be with his parents or family - at the very least with his own kind."

"Will another branch take 'im in, Ez? I've heard they can get a mite persnickety when others encroach on their tree," worried Vin, chewing his lip and tugging on a new rip in his jeans. Knowing what it was like to be without a family, Vin found himself identifying with the little orphaned creature and his soft heart ached.

"Never fear, Vin, I know of a branch that will accept him," assured Ezra, patting the tiny lump in his pocket gently. Pointing his wand at each of the others and then himself, Ezra murmured, "Omnis tergeo."

The other six stood still as they felt all the mud and debris whisked from their bodies and clothes, just as they were about to move they froze again as Ezra continued his incantations with, "Calidum Aerum."

Warm air blasted from his wand as Ezra essentially blow dried his friends' hair and clothing. They all laughed as he made Vin's hair twirl and dance around the younger man's face.

Nathan's quick gesture with his wand and the rumbled word, "Episkey", had everyone giving a quiet gasp as their minor injuries were healed.

With a nod to Nathan and final command, Ezra left his friends considerably more comfortable and presentable, "Constituo!"

Vin chuckled as he saw that the spell had even mended the old tears in his jeans in an effort to leave him neat and tidy. Wide eyed, he watched their pathway of destruction down the hill mend itself. "Damn Ez, I know ya like things just so, but ya know that would have grown over its ownself, don't ya?"

The southern wizard stopped tugging fretfully at his sleeve and grinned at the Texan. "Why leave it to chance? Besides, the fairies have once again settled now that their reflective pool has been restored. Now, shall be head back to the house for some nourishment? Speaking for myself, I'm famished."

Immediately six stomachs rumbled their concurrence, as the faces associated with them reddened ruefully.


End file.
